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The Age

Tuesday October 31, 2006

ADAM TURNER

It's all business

Finding a mobile phone that's primarily a communications tool rather than entertainment centre is becoming quite a challenge. Despite the lifestyle-focused marketing blitz, there's still a demand for phones without cameras. Nokia discovered this the hard way after it graced practically all its phones with cameras, only to struggle to win the business of security-conscious business and government users. Nokia has embarked on a de-camerafication of some of its business phones such as the E60, described as a "high-end business device, dedicated to the business executive". The E60 is a quad-band phone compatible with 2G and 3G networks, plus it has infra-red, USB, Bluetooth 1.2 and even wifi (with WEP and WPA encryption compatibility). It's also an SIP-compatible Voice over IP device, letting you make and receive VoIP calls over your wifi network - perfect for cutting down the number of expensive mobile calls people are prone to make even when they're in the office and only 10 feet away from their desk phone. Don't get too excited if you're a one-man band; getting the E60 to work with an SIP server or IP-PABX is no easy feat at this stage. Next year such Nokia phones will have an onboard configuration wizard, but until then, the advice we were given is "talk to your ISP". Forget your ISP, talk to your IT department and see if they've got any serious VoIP skills before you get your heart set on a wirelessly VoIP-enabled office. VoIP aside, the E60 is easy to use and configure, with more business features than you can point a "keppi" at (it's Finnish, look it up). Nokia describes the E60 as a "monoblock" - which must be Finnish for brick - but it's still smaller than something like a Palm Treo. Thankfully it's lighter than it looks at 117 grams and fit comfortably in our pants pocket. It's certainly not an ugly phone, but it has a look that says "all work, no play". The trade-off for the bulk is a rich and crisp 352 x 416 pixel display with an amazing 16 million colours, which comes in handy when using productivity software. The E60 runs on the Symbian OS 9.1 operating system and S60 interface, which we found very easy on the eyes. Because the phone supports Java, there are a wide range of third-party applications available, with www.s60.com a good place to start. The phone comes pre-installed with a calendar, notes and contacts lists - which can be synchronised with a desktop computer - plus the ability to create and edit document, spreadsheet and presentation files. All of this is made easier by the use of big buttons and a five-way joystick, thankfully replacing those annoying five-way rocker switches. Symbian's S60 browser does an excellent job of rendering pages and, when you use the joystick to scroll, after a second a pop-up window shows you the entire page to assist with navigation. We could also rotate the display to browse in landscape mode. The phone only has 75 MB of onboard RAM, but there's an MMC card slot for adding extra storage. All of the advanced features you'd look for in a phone are at hand, such as push to talk, call waiting, hands free, vibrating alert and one-touch voice recorder that also records calls. There are also plenty of connectivity features, with a POP3/IMAP email client supporting JPEG, 3GP, MP3, PPT, DOC, XLS, and PDF attachments. The phone also supports third-party push email applications including BlackBerry Connect. It also supports Open Mobile Alliance Device Management (OMA DM), designed to remotely administer mobile devices including the ability to lock or even wipe phones remotely. All work and no play, the E60 is the Volvo of mobile phones. It's the phone your boss wants you to own - about the only entertainment concession is the media player, but it only comes with a mono earpiece. If you're the boss, the E60 should certainly make your shortlist. If you're looking for something to keep you entertained when the boss isn't around, you might find the E60 too boring.

Nokia's E60 mobile phone retails for $749. For more details, call 1300 366 733 or visit nokia.com.au

More power to you

Wireless technology is fantastic for providing network access in those hard-to-reach places, but sometimes interference or performance issues mean it's not the best solution. Netgear's XE104 85 Mbps wall-plugged Ethernet extender kit lets you extend your Ethernet network via your electrical wiring, turning any power point in the home or office into a potential network point. The XE104 has four Ethernet ports, the XE103 one port. Ignore the 85 Mbps label - realistically you'll get 20-25 Mbps - so it's best suited to SOHO users looking to connect up a small office or home users wanting an Ethernet link between the study and the lounge room.

Netgear's XE104 85 Mbps wall-plugged Ethernet extender kit retails for $169 and the XE103 adaptor for $129. For more details call 1300 361 069 or visit netgear.com.au

Mighty mouse

The Targus AMB02US optical Bluetooth mouse is designed for Bluetooth-enabled notebooks to eliminate the need for a receiver. It has an 800-dpi optical sensor and two-button scroll wheel for easy navigation, plus it lets you launch your media player and operate the play, pause, track and volume controls from a range of 10 metres. It weighs 59 grams and comes with a carrying pouch for those on the road.

Targus' AMB02US optical Bluetooth mouse retails for $99.95. For more details, call 1800 641 645 or visit targus.com/au

Stay in control

Raritan's Dominion KX464 is a 64-port switch with KVM (keyboard, video, mouse)-over-IP, allowing you to remotely control computers connected to the switch using Raritan's Virtual KVM Desktop software. The Dominion KX464 supports one local and four remote users and incorporates dual power supplies with automatic failover and dual LAN ports for high reliability and availability. Administrators can also use Raritan's CommandCenter secure gateway ready to manage multiple Dominion switches - and their connected computers - from one dashboard.

The Raritan Dominion KX464 retails for $12,459. For more details, call (03) 9866 6887 or visit www.raritan.com.au

Super sharp

If you're working with high-definition content, BenQ's 24-inch widescreen FP241W monitor lets you view it in all its glory. Sporting a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) input and 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA) resolution, it handles 1080p video - the highest form of high definition available. The picture-in-picture function lets you play back video from two different sources, such as a DVD player and a PC. The FP241W also has 1000:1 contrast ratio, 500 cd/m brightness and six millisecond response time plus a three-port USB hub.

BenQ'S FP241W high-definition LCD monitor retails for $1799. For more details, call (02) 9714 6800 or visit benq.com.au

© 2006 The Age

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